Giving Back

Corporate Social Responsibility has become a popular addition to many incentive programs in recent years.  The idea that a company can take a small portion of time during a trip to do charity work not only helps the community they are visiting but makes their employees feel good.  But why limit volunteerism to a once-a-year addition to the incentive trip?  By integrating it into an everyday employee engagement strategy, it can raise employee morale and make your staff feel good about themselves and the company they work for.

Recently some of the FLG staff spent time on a Tuesday morning helping out at the River Food Pantry, a local food and clothing pantry in Madison, WI.  They are a great organization that help the needy in the Madison area.  As Dane County's busiest food pantry, River serves about 600 families per week.  While they are technically a christian organization, they welcome those of all faiths.  In fact, they actively encourage those of other faiths to help and join the community.

On Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, the pantry is open to the public.  On Tuesday, our staff members took on different jobs and helped clients who came in to get food from the pantry. The process was fairly straight forward.  Based on the number people in a household, families were allotted a certain amount of groceries, measured by weight, which they were able to choose for themselves off of the shelves.  They were also able to choose their meats, fresh produce and dairy.  I love this method since many other pantries I have seen choose the food for their clients.  The choice truly makes all the difference.  

Stocking Shelves

Bread!

I personally worked the "meat area" and was pleased to be able to give people so many options.  You would think a pantry would only have had hot dogs or ground beef but there were steaks, pork tenderloins, brats, chicken breasts, and even some whole chickens and beef roasts!  It was great to see such a variety of donations from the area supermarkets and distributors.  I'm glad people got a real choice since tastes and diets vary so widely, especially given the large diversity in ethnic backgrounds that use the pantry.  I'll tell you, I was positively drooling over an unclaimed rack of lamb that were in the bin in front of me.

Lucky for me, my drooling didn't have to last long since River Food Pantry also feeds people in-house.  In addition to feeding their volunteers after each shift, on Tuesday and Friday nights they open up their doors and feed whoever is hungry.  They have a talented head chef, Ray (seen below in the black apron), who cooks all of the meals in their on-site kitchen with the help of volunteers.  I was impressed with the variety of food choices Ray had out which ranged from barbeque beef to spaghetti with sausage to salad with fresh veggies.  He even made a large chocolate "Texas Pan Cake" with nuts on top.  Delicious.

The Kitchen Area

Anjee and Sandi after lunch

The pantry also has a small clothing and home goods area where people can give and receive apparel items as well as various household items.  We did not work there during our visit but it is great to know that they offer free, decent clothing to those who need it.  It was interesting to learn that what they need the most is men's clothing.  Once I thought about it, I realized that most of the guys I know wear stuff until it is nothing but threads so perhaps they just don't have that much to donate.  Either that or the thought of donating their old clothes to the pantry never crossed their minds.  Well, now I know where I am taking all of my husband's unwanted clothes from now on.

Clothing and House Goods Pantry

All-in-all, this was a humbling experience as it certainly reminded me that there is a great deal of need in Madison, even if we don't see it on our daily commute or everyday lives.  The River Food Pantry staff, volunteers and clients were all wonderful, gracious people with big hearts.  This pantry is located less than a mile from my house and, before this, I didn't even know it was there.  Now that I know where it is and what it's all about, I plan to go back and help out as often as I can!
 

I wasn't the only one who was moved by my experience there.  Here is how some of our staff felt about the time they spent at RFP:

“It is hard to see the need, yet heartwarming to see so much humanity among the volunteer group.  The River Food Pantry is one of the best run I have seen, allowing the clients to shop for their food is a much more efficient and dignified way to go about it.” - Sandi Daniel

"The River Food Pantry is an asset to the community in every way.  They provide as many services as possible for the funding they have.  I am happy to donate time not only to the people receiving assistance but also to the people who have dedicated their lives to helping others." - Dustin Sorge

"I found the River Food Pantry to be such a positive and empowering experience for both the clients and volunteers.  The problem is so much larger than most of us can even comprehend.  Not only does the River Food Pantry provide food and clothing to families in need, they also provide community.  They have a play area for kids and they bring local entertainment on Friday evenings.  A few short hours of my time gave me so much more in education, compassion, friendship and community that I am certain I gave while I was there.  I look forward to helping the River Food Pantry again very soon."  - Sarah Pingry

If you are looking for ways to give back personally or company-wide, here are some ideas for charity projects that you can find or organize in your area.

• Help out at a soup kitchen, food pantry or homeless shelter
• Have a shoe cutting party (Sole Hope takes your uppers and makes shoes for kids in Africa)
• Donate time or books to a literacy project
• Hold a blood drive
• Build-a-Bike/Bear/House
• Plant trees
• Clean up a park or nature area
• Run a charitable stand at a local festival
• Help plant or pick weeds at a community garden
• Volunteer to read/play music/visit with the elderly at a nursing home
• Organize a food drive or bake sale for a cause
• Get a corporate team together for a charitable run/walk
• Hold a game show-style team challenge (physical or mental) where the winning team gets to choose their favorite charity
• Deliver Meals-on-Wheels
• Organize a clothing or bedding drive
• Set up charitable giving/match programs with groups like the United Way
• Answer phones for a pledge drive at a local PBS or NPR station 
• Help out at an after-school program at a local Big Brother Big Sisters
• Set up corporate mentorships for under-privileged youth
• Join or start a free tutoring program
• Offer rides, gutter cleaning, shoveling or mowing services to the elderly
• Find some specific needs for your area on sites like Volunteer Match

The opportunities for doing good are truly endless!   

I know with the speed of business it is often hard to find time to volunteer.  However, it was such an excellent team-building experience for our staff that the time spent away from the office was well worth it.  It is actually pretty amazing that more companies don’t use this opportunity to engage their employees.  There are people who give so much back every day, for us to find a few hours in a month or quarter seems like it is the least we could do for the community that we live and work in.

If you don’t have the time or inclination to organize something on a company-wide scale, perhaps you can help make change your corporate policy to include concessions for volunteerism.  For example, giving the employees one paid day, or even an hour, per month to volunteer much like Randstad Canada has done.  What a fantastic dynamic that must create in the office!

Corporate charitable giving is great (and much needed) but nothing makes people feel good like actually doing something where they can see the benefits of their actions.  It builds strong bonds among your staff and even stronger ties to your organization.  It helps employee morale and retention but most of all, it's just a really good thing to do for the community that supports you and your people.

Anjee Sorge
Director of Operations

FIRE Light Group

 

PS. A small post-script on the clientele at River Food Pantry.  I think a lot of people don't volunteer because they are scared to work with the homeless or needy.  They expect people to be crazy or mean or drunk or think they will not be able to relate to them.  My experience was quite the contrary.  Most of the people I met were very gracious and friendly, just normal folks trying to get by.  I think one of the most important lessons that can be taken away from this experience is that it can happen to ANYONE.  If I or my husband were to lose our jobs tomorrow, we could be on the other side of the table in no time.  Seeing and understanding this can really change your perceptions of what "need" is and exactly who it affects. 

Recipe for ROI

We've all been there.  Your boss comes up to you and wants a simple answer to a complex question.  In this case, she wants to know how the corporate engagement strategy is going.  You can't come back to her with a platitude like "it's fine".  You need something solid and quantifiable.  But how do you measure the perks, prizes and recognition against the business benefits and put it into a solid number?  

It can sound overwhelming but it is really a very simple concept.  It involves understanding how to get the basic information that will give you the ability to measure the success of your engagement efforts.  In its simplest form, Return on Investment refers to a basic formula:

Net Benefit / Total Cost X 100 = ROI

So, how do you get the numbers to plug into this equation?  Any engagement consultant worth their salt should be able to help you determine them.  However, there is a way to figure them out for yourself.  It might take a little effort but the rewards are worth the time.

Here's the step-by-step recipe:

 

1. The very first thing you need is an understanding of what you want to prove or validate and what impact that ultimately has on your business.  So if the goal of your engagement strategy is to measure how “engaged” people are, you need to determine what determines engagement first.  Things like employee turnover and productivity are a numerical measurement of employee engagement.  Sales and repeat buying habits are measures of customer engagement.  Increases in dealer sales are measures of channel engagement.  Of course there are many other measures that could be analyzed, but this may help you get started.

2. Survey the audience.  Perhaps sprinkle in a few focus groups and dig up any data that might help you understand where you are starting.

3. Analyze this historical and current data to draw a baseline.

4. Develop your strategy, preferably with two groups, one where you will focus the engagement strategy, and one control group where you can measure the effect.  If your strategy is corporate-wide to start with, then your control group has to be the past group performance before there was an engagement strategy.

5. Determine what you will measure; i.e. sales, productivity, turnover, etc.

6. Determine what the true cost of the strategy is, including all items that go into the strategy, marketing, staff time, meetings, opportunity costs, etc.

7. Go back to your measurements and see how much they have improved based on the implementation of the strategy – divide it by your total cost, multiply by 100 – and voila you have your ROI Soup!

Now really, that does not sound so hard does it?  Remember that ROI will never be a completely exact science, but like a recipe, it should turn out basically the same every time you make it.  The ingredients are what change it!

Sandra Daniel

President & CEO

FIRE Light Group

Australia - Last Day!

This is the fifth and final blog in a series from our intern Kali who is a student at UW-Madison. She has been studying abroad during the spring semester on the eastern coast of Australia and has composed several blogs about her experiences there...

Australia - Last Day! 

This is my last day in Sydney, and I cannot find words to explain how I feel right now. I can't wait to see my family and others back home, but I will miss so much about Australia. I think that the thing I will miss most about this trip won't be the amazing weather, beautiful scenery, or fun adventures camping and diving, but the amazing people that I have met along the way. Every amazing thing that I have experienced here has been with some very incredible friends that I have made along the way. We began our trip in the little town of Marsfield, and ended up exploring the east coast, from Byron Bay to the Gold Coast, to The Great Barrier Reef in Cairns.

We shared meals, many times at our favorite place Pancakes On the Rocks in Sydney. Most meals had being heaps of pasta and veggie meals, and many Sundays we got together to have our family dinners. We also consumed large amounts of goon at times as any broke college student would.

We explored the city and the artwork and nature of Sydney. We spent every sunny day we possibly could out at the beach tanning, surfing, snorkeling, and climbing the cliffs of Bondi and Manly Beach. We fought off hungry and annoying seagulls on numerous occasions, some of us losing our food in the process. We went on cruise ships around the harbor and spent many hours wandering and trying to find our way home.

We went to Vivid Sydney, which is a week-long event with light shows on the buildings and the opera house, and food and other events. This is a must see event for anyone visiting in June! Also, we all had expected to be warm the entire stay in Australia, however in Sydney they actually have a chilly winter! I do suggest bringing plenty of warm clothes if you come in the winter. I had to buy some and none of us were very prepared for it. No I will not be tan when I get back ;)

We spent many fun nights out at the pubs and campus bars, but of course we had the most fun having our small parties at our own house playing games, both drinking and board games like Life and Settlers.

 

We went to a play at the opera house; Macbeth of course! It was a great experience and a must see. The opera house is beautiful on the outside, and average looking on the inside, but it is a great experience to go see one of their many shows.

We visited the beautiful Blue Mountains, which are actually blue looking. At the mountains you can climb down the steep stairway to the sister rocks, then ride a sky rail back to the top, or climb back up which we did and I do not suggest at all!

 

We visited the Botanical Gardens which are very pretty and free to visit! Also the trees are full of bats; hundreds and hundreds of bats which are very awesome. We did everything we could possibly afford and we had an incredible time with everything we did. I wish I could have done so much more while here, but it was all such an amazing experience and I wouldn't trade this experience for anything. I met so many amazing people who have changed my life and opened my eyes to a whole new world of things, and I have made some lifelong friends that I will never forget. I hope to see them again someday, maybe on a dive trip or another camping trip, but whatever we do or wherever we go, I will not ever forget my new friends from around the world and my experiences in Australia.